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Topic: A Tribute to the King - Kenny Dalglish (Read 81248 times)

The greatest achievement of any football manager in the England is that of Kenny Dalglish. Forget winning leagues, F.A. Cups, and European Cups etc. At the darkest day for Liverpool Football Club Kenny Dalglish rose to the occasion. As much as any human being could do he guided Liverpool through its darkest days with the utmost dignity and integrity. He put himself, the club and the playing staff at the service of those who had the greatest cause to the grieve the families of the bereaved. They visited the sick in hospital, attended funerals, and as best they could tried to comfort the grieving families. His leadership was stunning and remember he was only 38 at the time of Hillsborough.

From the darkest day in the history of the club has emerged its greatest victory. The truth.

I'm not sure why that thought hadn't really occurred to before. Perhaps it had. But it occurred to me more clearly than ever yesterday evening. Of all the times, it had to be last night. As I stood in the middle of Lime Street looking towards the temporary screen erected above the steps on St George's Hall, so far away from the speakers' platform due to the vast the numbers crowded onto the plateau. It was then, as Kenny Dalglish began reading a poem about footprints, those exact same thoughts you have so eloquently expressed above came to my mind too. It also made me realise, that us, we as a football club, this entity still being here today, still functioning, still chasing down trophies – the fact that we didn't collapse under the burden of Hillsborough and disappear as a force in English football – is, to a large degree, down to that great man speaking those simple words. Kenny Dalglish.

I've been ever so stoical this week. The nerves, tension and apprehension of Monday night replaced on Tuesday morning with joy, relief and the still clinging shards of anger I've carried with me ever since leaving Hillsborough on that April day in 1989. But listening to Kenny, a humble and reluctant hero, finish the poem he read with the words, “In other words, you will never walk alone,” I began shaking and the tears fell from my eyes. The hurt, the sadness, the extent of my empathy for those 96 individuals and their families on the steps facing me became too much. I cried. I cried too for this much abused and traduced city and for the survivors who've fought and argued their case over 27 years the length and breadth of this country and beyond.

I was stood with my kids – reluctantly dragged from the street for the night, to accompany their da and ma to the vigil – and my thoughts travelled back to the events 27 years ago, way before they were even born. I was a 20-year-old football fanatic brought up on the expectation and glamour of supporting a side that won one trophy after trophy. One of the reasons we did so was because of Kenny Dalglish. And it would never end because we had Kenny Dalglish.

Then I recalled the three or four funerals I had attended after Hillsborough, people I, or a mate, knew from our area of the city or beyond who had died. I remember standing outside churches, still a kid at heart, trying to spot players who were in attendance, as yet another coffin was carried within. But we were always looking out for one man in particular, a man who was ever-present when the dead of Hillsborough were buried – Kenny Dalglish. The burden of leadership he carried week after week, to funeral after funeral, while still in charge of England's greatest football team, with matches to play, a league to win, a cup to compete in...

We need not have worried. Kenny was here. What could go wrong?

Yesterday it also dawned on me that Kenny is a Hillsborough survivor too. Something we forgot, or didn't talk about back then. When you sign up to manage a football club – not just any football club, admittedly – attending 96 funerals and leading the club through its darkest period isn't in the job spec is it? He'd already done it once after Heysel. How does a man cope with such an inheritance in the first place, then have to deal with something as gruelling and emotionally draining as Hillsborough too? He must have been superhuman. He was superhuman to us.

After the funerals, after the dirt was thrown around, after the whitewash, Kenny was still leading us, sustaining our fanatical pursuit of trophies. We forgot something, however: he was human too. Easy to forget if you watched him play football, I know. The toll began to tell. The burden he carried, the effort to keep us all going, to keep us on top, became too much for him. He didn't make us forget Hillsborough and those dreadful, life-changing events, but through football he allowed us to carry on as normal: singing, cheering, saluting our heroes. The ordinary things we travelled to Hillsborough to do that day.

We asked too much of him, I fear. He'd already done far and above his duty. Something had to give.

Yesterday surrounded and comforted by loved ones, it finally occurred to me how much we owe that great man, Kenny Dalglish. We all, of course, owe each other a great deal for the solidarity and support we've shown one another over the years. We owe the families because they taught us through example their tenacity, their will to carry on the fight year after year. To never give in, even though the odds of ever seeing justice being done seemed, at times, to be diminishing. But, as you've said above, Kenny Dalglish's greatest contribution to this football club is not league titles or European cups. It's not the goals scored or the great years of success as our manager. His greatest achievement is the way he guided us through those initial months and subsequent years after Hillsborough.

I was glad to be reminded of that yesterday on Lime Street. I was thankful we had Kenny Dalglish back in April 1989. None of us walked alone because we were led by King Kenny.

« Last Edit: April 28, 2016, 09:36:42 AM by Rhi »

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“The socialism I believe in is everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards. It’s the way I see football, the way I see life.”

"The old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear."

Few years ago the questions was asked...Is Suarez better than Kenny? ( and what a compliment to Suarez!)...discussions followed and I said ( to whoever would listen - not many!!)...that they were different footballers each brilliant...but you have to remember outside being a footballer...Kenny is beyond any comparrision.

From being a 16 year old travelling up to Middlesborough to watch him play his first league game , to sitting last night as a tearful 55 year old man watching him wonderful as ever take the reading of 'footsteps' Kenny has received nothing but love and admiration from me ( even when he played five full backs at Arsenal and bought Jimmy Carter! )...but Im not here to talk football.

When we took the wreaths to place on the Kop for Eric George Hughes we passed the players lounge , they where all there , comforting and consoling family members, children, wives, mothers, fathers....young men who just wanted to play football had become berievement councillors...and lead amongst them all was Kenny

Kenny was a focal point in those dark days , he was asked question he was in no position to answer , but he knew the answer the people of Liverpool and Liverpool fans needed, with dignity and charm he made sure his team gave us some respite from the pain.

I think Kenny is an uncomplicated man, his working class roots gave him the strength to be what he has become , a truly inspirational and dignified...Gentleman.

There will be calls to knight him, well I say no!...the Establishment cannot rubber stamp their approval now!! after all these years, if he was and accepted I would be proud for him, prouder to be honest if he said sick it!!

They say never meet your heroes, Well I did , Bill Shankly and John Peel and it was wonderful to talk with them...there's a third, Kenny, I have never met him and probably best if I don't, as I would turn into a blubbering buffoon hugging and kissing him!!

We have a holy Trinity at Anfield, not the one Bill said, but he is one, he built the club, then Bob who guided us to glory....and Kenny ,not the footballer, not the manager, but the man who comforted us and took the responsibility to lead us when we needed it most.

"I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you"

Thank you Saoirse for your kind words and well done on a smashing post. Yes Kenny Dalglish is a remarkable man. He was just the right person the club needed at its darkest hour. And from its darkest hour rose its greatest hero on and more importantly off the pitch, one Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish. Now that those who died at Hillsborough have been completely exonerated (its a disgrace to even have to write those words) maybe the way is clear now for Kenny to be knighted. It was remiss of me not to acknowledge the wonderful help his wife Marina was to him and the club at such a tragic time. As I failed to point out, Kenny too was a victim of Hillsborough. He had to have paid an awful price emotionally for what he witnessed at the ground and after in terms of funerals and hospital visits. He did the right thing stepping down in 1991 if his health was at risk. He owed nothing to Liverpool and it owed him everything it could possible ever offer. As we know he came to the club's rescue at short notice after Hodgson's tenure was rightly ended. Again he brought us glory in winning the league cup. A winner on the pitch, off the pitch and most importantly as a human being. He has always carried himself with the highest dignity and integrity. He is the greatest living embodiment of the values and virtues of a club that you could possibly have.

For a man of his stature in the game Kenny is remarkably humble. I hope he can accept us mere mortals viewing him as a hero for that he is. Whether he gets a knighthood or not he will always be King of Liverpool Football Club.

I don't think the knighthood stuff is relevant, and I'm not sure a gong from the Establishment is worth much in the eyes of many Reds, possibly for the King himself. It's entirely plausible that he's already turned one down. He's King Kenny, and has been for nearly forty years.

Thanks everyone. And special thanks to Rhi for giving my reply to @norecat's excellent points a separate thread.

Kenny should be honoured every time we visit Anfield. Something permanent should be there to signify the gratitude we fans feel towards him. Think @MichaelA is right, he needs a statue or a stand named in his honour. Something he may personally feel uncomfortable with, no doubt. Like others, I don't really care if the state gives him official recognition or not. It's necessary this club do something lasting at Anfield in his honour, though.

I don't think the knighthood stuff is relevant, and I'm not sure a gong from the Establishment is worth much in the eyes of many Reds, possibly for the King himself. It's entirely plausible that he's already turned one down. He's King Kenny, and has been for nearly forty years.

I'm not so sure,plausible yes-i think its something he'd accept,only the man himself could verify either way.Times & things change,we could all have a very dfferent view in the future.You're right of course tho,King Kenny..our King Kenny is a much more valued & recognised decoration.

Sports presenter Richard Keys has called for former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish to be knighted for his “extraordinary” response to the Hillsborough tragedy.

The broadcaster, who worked at Radio City for four years from 1978 to 1982, recalled his visit to Anfield the weekend after the disaster to lay flowers.

While paying his respects, he encountered Dalglish, then the club’s player/manager, who took him to meet relatives and players and on to a memorial service at Tranmere’s Prenton Park ground.

He wrote in a post on his blog: “The scene in front of me was incredible. At this time more than half the pitch was covered in flowers. Thousands were pouring in to pay their respects.

“I don’t know how long I was there but as I was leaving I heard a familiar brusk Scottish voice ‘hey, where are you going?’ Initially I thought I’d been rumbled but as I turned round I saw Kenny Dalglish. ‘What are you doing here?’ was the next question. Kenny loved a wind up, but surely not at a time like this! Of course, I didn’t have to reply!

“We stood together for a while marvelling at what was unfolding before us. I think he told me he’d been on The Kop every day since the disaster. He knew where people had left things, teddy bears and the like. He knew the people who’d left them. It had got to him deeply. Remember, he was now player/manager.

“What happened next was extraordinary.

“‘Come and meet some people’, he said. He took me off to the players’ lounge where relatives of those who’d lost their lives, players, players’ wives, his wife Marina, counsellors, clergy - all sorts, were sitting talking, consoling each other and unburdening themselves.

“Kenny just wanted me to talk to people. I had no idea what to say or who to say it to, but it was hugely touching listening and sharing their stories.”

The former Sky Sports presenter said the Reds legend “was at the heart of everything” with wife Marina, adding: “It was incredible to see him and Marina organising everything - on the fly.

“Kenny went on to to make sure the club were represented at all 96 funerals of the Hillsborough victims. He and Marina were two of many remarkable people connected with the club at that time.”

Keys also spoke of his fury at the knighthood given to former Merseyside Police chief constable Norman Bettison, who was a chief inspector in South Yorkshire Police when the disaster happened.

He wrote: “Down the years I’ve watched many sportsmen knighted, some for outstanding achievement, some because politically it suited different governments to do so.

“It’s wrong, just plain wrong, that one of the perpetrators of the outlandish cover up over Hillsborough is Norman Bettison. I refuse to call him ‘Sir’.

“I don’t know what happens to the poor souls who fought such a brave fight for the 96 - the 96 that we knew about, but there were so many more victims left behind - but I do know this. Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish should be knighted for everything he’s done for the City of Liverpool down the years.

“And I’m sorry ‘old boy’ that I’ve been a touch indiscreet, but I’ve had to be. You’re a giant Sir Kenny.”

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Jürgen Klopp does not adapt to English Football. English Football adapts to Jurgan Klopp.

Kenny was a special player, when he was on the pitch you never lost hope that you would score a last minute winner or equaliser. He was amongst an elite of sportsmen who win matches almost on their own. The Arsenal semi saga was perhaps the best example. He was a leader on the pitch.I often hear in my work people giving 'inspirational' keynotes and it is almost boring to hear the phrase "managers do things right, leaders do the right thing"But...Kenny was a leader! On the pitch, but more importantly off the pitch. Why were we so excited about his return - because he would lead and we knew we could follow. We trusted him to do the right thing. He was the greatest I ever saw, and I include Cruyff in that, because we were never beaten as long as he was there. Add in the personal cost of his leadership, and what he has given the people of this city is beyond a knighthood- and let's face it there are scumbags with knighthoods like Ingram, Bettison and others who are not fit to be in the same room.He knows what he means to us.